I've been cooking the same breakfast for over a decade. It's the same breakfast that brought us to farming. Dan and I were living in Napa, CA, home of great wines and great food.
It was here that we started really eating for the first time,
real pasture-raised proteins, straight from the farm.
It made all the difference in the world.
It was the first time we could eat a meal and actually be satiated until dinner.
And it tasted so good!
Before that, we'd buy the best eggs at the health food store, certified organic and pasture-raised, but from a big national company. I thought I kind of could tell that the yolks were somewhat deeper and the packaging helped me to believe the eggs were better. But I couldn't tell that much of a difference in my body.
We both couldn't believe the difference that the same old eggs and bacon breakfast with better quality ingredients was the reason we could eat breakfast at 10am and be truly satiated until an early dinner at 4pm. Never had we had such a satiating experience.
That amazement has lasted until today, with me cooking basically the exact same 10-minute breakfast for over a decade with simple variations to keep things interesting. I'm going to share with you my simple tips for mixing it up as well as technique.
Pans are paramount! With eggs, it's all about cooking them perfectly. They don't have a ton of flavor and are so delicate and feminine. To bring out their very best and ensure kids and adults will enjoy, it's critical not to overcook them. There never should be a brown "cooked" coating on them, in my opinion. For years I cooked everything in cast iron. It's so tough not to burn the eggs! Recently, and I'm sure I'm very late to the party, I found out about ceramic and green/eco nonstick pans. What a game changer for eggs! I continue to cook meats of all types in cast iron. They're so forgiving on meat and you can't tell there's a mess in the pan all the time from heavy use. But for eggs, if you haven't tried, clean nonstick pans are such the way to go! No more scraping the pans of egg gunk. And no more burned eggs! Hallelujah!
Keep switching meats & flavors -
Use different toppings in or on top your eggs. Some of our favorites are:
Salsa + Sourcream
Cream cheese
Cheese
Speck/Prosciutto and fresh basil
Dinner leftovers - soups, stir frys
Shredded stewing hen breast meat
Experiment with different spices to enhance the food flavors. If you're going for a nacho/picante inspired egg, add chipotle powders. If you've got a leftover curry, you can add some masala powder to make your Indian-inspired egg to pop. Going with basil and deli meats? What about adding a pinch of Italian herbs? When you're keeping things fresh and country fresh, a mix of butter, cream, salt and pepper is lovely.
Here's a case for keeping a chive plant near your front door. It's so uplifting to go outside and snip some fresh, herbal greenery even in winter. A couple sprigs of chives inspire any egg!
Other ways to keep things exciting:
- Cook your eggs in different fats (butter, lard, bacon grease, coconut oil)
- Use different meats. It takes about the same time to cook bacon as it does to cook breakfast patties on higher heat. It's also great to cut up bratwursts into 1" pieces and fry those up. Adding different flavored ground pork sausage or ground beef to the eggs is tasty too.
Here are today's scrambled eggs flavored with last night's bone broth/egg/ground beef masala soup, butter, and salt, cooked in a pfoa-free non-stick pan.
How to: Perfect Scrambled Egg & Breakfast Meat Breakfast - Currently, I've been in a scrambled egg jaunt for the last year. I previously hated scrambled eggs - always over-cooked and dry. Over the year, I've developed a technique that is a balance - eggs come out perfectly fluffy and creamy, not too wet, not too dry.
Get your meat cooking on high, FIRST!
1. Grab your cast iron pan. Turn the heat on medium-high.
2. Add meats of your choice to the pan. I recommend 1 bratwurst cut up or 3 pieces of bacon/thin meat per adult.
Get your eggs cooking on low, SECOND!
2. Grab your pfoa-free non-stick or ceramic pan. Turn on heat to lowest setting.
3. Be generous with butter or other healthy fat
4. Add eggs. I serve 3-4 eggs per adult and 1 for the baby.
5. Add more flavors as I mentioned above, or simply salt your eggs. I leave out pepper most of the time.
6. Use silicone spatula to break the yolks and move the eggs around, gently scraping down the pan repeatedly. The silicone spatula goes hand-in-hand with the non-stick pan. You will destroy the pan overnight with the use of metal spatulas/spoons. The pans need absolute gentle handling.
7. Get the plates out and spread out so you can serve quickly and ensure everyone gets a hot plate.
8. Get drinks ready.
9. Serve and eat!
I'm going to leave it at that. Scrambled eggs and all of the variety and satiety that brings can keep you experimenting for quite some time. Please remind me to share with you my signature egg. I've never shared this with anyone and it's such a treat! More to come. Enjoy and let me know how your healthy, farm-to-table breakfasts turn out!
Thanks for tuning in, Carolyn! I can’t wait to share it with you!
I'm looking forward to hearing about that mysterious "signature egg!" :-)